


Over the Farlands Wall

by VITAMX



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon & Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Spoilers - Over the Garden Wall, Swearing, The Unknown (Over the Garden Wall), hermitcraft au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:54:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22852078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VITAMX/pseuds/VITAMX
Summary: Mumbo notes that the forest around he and Grian is dying, the leaves red and gold and brown and decaying, drifting away into the wind. Despite the circumstances, the forest was serene and peaceful, the moonlight shining through the branches of the trees...Hold on.What are they doing here? Where are they?
Relationships: Mumbo Jumbo & Grian
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1, Part 1

\---

"...Antelope, Guggenheim, Albert, Salami, Giggly..."

Grian was going to drive him mad if he kept listing off bad names for a parrot, Mumbo thought dryly to himself. He would end up driving him up the wall someday, he was sure of it.

The dead leaves crunched rather loudly under his mismatched brown and black shoes, one of few other sounds present to distract him from Grian's ramblings.

The man in question was walking with a skip in his step, a tea kettle atop his head ( _he_ claimed it was an elephant head), along with a pair of olive green overalls and white dress shirt with a black ribbon on the front. He had his usual elytra, though torn and tattered, attached to said overalls, and he wore a brown satchel over his shoulder.

Mumbo, on the other hand, wore a pointy red hat, along with a navy blue cape with three sets of golden buttons on the front, a string holding the first pair together. Underneath the cape, he wore a plain white dress shirt and thin black suspenders, paired with his usual black formal pants, and an unintentionally mismatched pair of shoes.

He can't really remember why they're dressed up this way.

"Fly-guy, Tom, Thomas, Tambourine, Beak-Face McFeather, Artichoke, Penguin, Pete, Steve... Oh! But the _worst_ name for a parrot would have to be-"

"Grian! Would you-" Mumbo sighed, swiveling his head around to stare at Grian and his parrot, before halting in his steps. "Wait... W-Wait a second,"

Grian stopped next to him, eyebrows furrowed as he pet his parrot on its head.

He looked at Mumbo, who was turning around to look at their surroundings, with a confused frown.

"What?" He questioned, shivering from a particularly cold gust of wind.

"Uh... Grian?" Mumbo coughed, eyes flickering towards him. "Where... Where are we?"

"...In the woods?" Grian responded, tilting his head.

Mumbo sighed, pinching the brink of his nose, and wildly gestured his hand around them.

"No, I- I mean, what are we _doing_ out here?" Mumbo huffed, his foot crunching atop another dead leaf.

"We're... Walking home?" Grian said, sighing quietly to himself.

"Grian!" Mumbo hissed, gritting his teeth in aggravation. "I- I think we're lost. Augh, we- we should've left a trail, or something!" He groaned, covering his face in his hands.

Grian offered a small smile, and pulled out a small bundle of golden carrots from his satchel, and snapped a small piece off and dropped it on the ground.

"I can start leaving a trail of golden carrots!" He offered, only proving to aggravate Mumbo even further.

"No, it's not gonna do us any good now," Mumbo sighed, hunching over. "We're lost. Completely, one hundred percent, lost, all because- because-"

A sharp chopping sound interrupted him, and both he and Grian's heads swerved towards the sound, and both crouch down behind the nearest tree.

Mumbo slowly shuffled closer to Grian, grabbing ahold of his shoulder tightly, who whispered a quiet defiant "hey!".

"Did you hear that?" Mumbo whispers.

"Yeah," Grian mutters, rolling his eyes.

"Do you think it's some kind of- of deranged lunatic with an axe waiting out there in the darkness for innocent victims?" He murmurs quickly, gasping when Grian tore himself away from his grasp. "Grian!"

He faltered in running after him immediately, face scrunched in concern, before scuttering off after Grian in exchange for getting away from _whatever_ it was that was making noise in the trees. He nearly tripped over a branch once or twice, but he caught up to Grian rather quickly, pulling him behind another tree.

"Grian, you're gonna get us in trouble again!" He hissed quietly, resisting a sigh when Grian stuck his tongue out at him. "You need to-"

Mumbo quickly cut himself off with another gasp, the image of another person coming into view past the trees they hid behind.

He wore a puffy, green coat, and held an axe in one hand and a lantern in the other. Strapped to his back were hoards of sticks, and around his head was a green and black helmet with a tinted visor. Other than his coat, he wore a plain dark grey turtleneck, black dress pants, and dark grey snow boots.

He was humming an incoherent tune, chopping away at a red-tinted tree.

"We should ask him for help," Grian hummed quietly.

"No, we should _not_ ask him for help," Mumbo stated, furrowing his eyebrows.

Grian turned his head around to look at Mumbo, pulling a face.

"But-" Grian began, exasperated.

"Shh!" Mumbo whispered, finger held in front of his mouth.

"You shush!" Grian huffed.

" _You_ shush!" Mumbo retorted, gritting his teeth and covering Grian's mouth with his hand, who in turn let out a muffled yell.

Holding his breath, and struggling to keep Grian in one place, Mumbo peeked around the trunk of the tree, watching as the strange man with the axe wandered off to another part of the forest. The minute he was out of sight, Mumbo let go of Grian, letting out a strangled sigh.

"Rude!" Grian scoffed, straightening the bangs of his hair with a huff.

Mumbo ignored him, raising a hand to bite at his nails, pulling it back in disgust when the taste of redstone filled his mouth.

Oh, right. His fingernails had tons of redstone dust underneath them.

Well, now he just felt stupid.

"Argh... D- D'you reckon we should've asked him for help?" He hummed nervously, wringing his fingers together.

Grian groaned dramatically, flopping onto the ground, a few leaves crunching underneath him. Mumbo's mouth pressed into a thin line, rolling his eyes and resting his chin in his hand, leaning against the trunk of the tree behind him.

"Maybe I can help you, man. I mean- you dudes _are_ lost, right?"

Both Mumbo and Grian snapped their heads towards the sudden voice, eyes landing on a bluebird, sitting atop a low branch (that was strange- any birds other than parrots weren't usually in normal vanilla worlds.)

Mumbo gapes at the bird, blinking several times before smacking the sides of his face.

" _What_ in the world is going on." He muttered, dumbfounded. There was no way a _bird_ just talked to them.

"Well, you're slapping your face, and _I'm_ answering your question, and-" Grian began, waving his hand around.

"No- _Grian,_ a bird's brain isn't big enough for- for cognizant speech." Mumbo interrupted, huffing.

The bluebird's pointed eyes narrowed, chest feathers fluffing up angrily.

" _What_ was that?" The bird asked annoyedly, hopping forward.

Grian rolled his eyes as Mumbo began to nervously bicker with the bird, rolling around onto his stomach, and placed a small chunk of a golden carrot atop the back of a small, black turtle. Mumbo said they needed a trail- he might as well start now, despite Mumbo thinking otherwise.

"I mean, I-I'm just saying, you're, you're _weird_ , like, not normal, I- I mean-" Mumbo groaned, hiding his face with his hands. "Oh my word, stop talking to it, Mumbo..."

" _It_ _?_ " The bird scoffed, clearly offended.

Grian sat up, a few stray leaves clinging to his clothes, and adjusted the tea kettle on his head before placing another bit of golden carrot on part of the cloth of Mumbo's cape that was draped across the ground.

Mumbo sputtered once more, putting his hands up in a sort of defense, shaking his head.

"Uh- I, I-I'm-" Mumbo's voice was quickly drowned out by a shriek as he snapped his head around, standing up in an instant.

In front of them now was the same odd man from before, only now, his axe was raised threateningly, the lantern he held shining in their faces.

Grian stood up slowly, subconsciously pulling his tattered elytra wings around him as he stepped closer to Mumbo.

"What are you doing here?!" The man yelled, eyes narrowing dangerously behind his visor. "Explain yourselves, _now_."

"Aaand, that's my que to leave. Later, dudes," The bird muttered, quickly flying away.

Mumbo glanced over to the bird for a second, before looking back at the man before them, curling and uncurling his hands into fists, ignoring how they were shaking.

"Calm- calm down, mister! Wh-Whatever you do here is your business!" Mumbo squeaked, gritting his teeth and stepping backwards as much as he could. " W-W-We just wanna get home with all our legs and arms attached, haha!"

"These woods are no place for you!" The man growled, grip tightening on his axe. "Don't you know **_the Beast_** is afoot here?!"

"'Th-The Beast'? W-W-We, we don't know anything about that!" Mumbo gulped, tilting his head away from the axe. "W-We're just two lost people, trying to get home!"

The man seemed to falter for a second, grip tightening once more before he sighed, squeezing his eyes shut for a second or two before lowering his axe, shoulders drooping.

Mumbo and Grian let out a silent sigh of relief, letting their own tension fade as the man struggled to look them in the eye.

A faint breeze passed through when he finally opened his mouth to sleep.

"Well," The man scoffed, shaking his head wearily. "Welcome to the Unknown. You're more lost than you realize- The name's Xisuma."

\---


	2. Chapter 1, Part 2

\---

Xisuma had guided them through the woods, bringing them into a small clearing where a quaint, little home lied next to the nearby river. On the side of the house was what appeared to be a mill, with several barrels and boxes scattered about the front of the house.

He had beckoned them inside, closing the door silently with a tired sigh.

"I found this place abandoned- repurposed its mill for my needs," He huffed quietly, treading forward and using a flint and steel to light the fireplace. "You and your friend should be _safe_ here, while I work."

Grian was humming to himself, crouching against the ground and placing two or three more pieces of golden carrots on the floor.

"Carrot trail, carrot trail, gol-den carrot trail..." He sang quietly, and sit criss-cross on the floor, holding his face in his hand.

Mumbo tore his eyes away from Grian, and looked over at Xisuma, who was crouched in front of the fire.

"So, erm... What- What exactly _is_ your work?" He asked nervously, raising his pointer finger in an inquiry.

"...Everyone has a torch to burn, friends," He murmured, tapping his lantern. "And this one here just so happens to be mine. I grind those horrid Edelwood trees into oil for this lantern, in order to keep it lit."

He reaches for one of the twigs strapped against his back, crunching it with one hand, and dropped it against the floor.

"This is _my_ lot in life, my burden I must carry," He huffed, grip tightening around the handle of a lantern.

Mumbo nodded wearily, and shuffled towards Grian, sitting down next to him and leaning over.

"This guy sounds loony," He murmured, eyebrows raised. "I say we knock him out and ditch him- or, well, maybe not actually. He seems to know lots about the woods... And that fire is nice too- yeah, nevermind, bad plan, bad plan. Ignore me."

"Okay," Grian responded inattentively, tracing circles on the floor.

Xisuma looked over his shoulder at them, eyes narrowed.

"What are you whispering about over there?" He asked bluntly.

"We were talkin' about runnin' away from here," Grian says nonchalantly, not looking up from the floor.

"Grian!" Mumbo hissed, turning his head to look at him, betrayed. "Shush!"

" _You_ shush," He mutters, his face sour.

Mumbo halted, shoulders drooping and eyebrows furrowed in concern.

As he opened his mouth to ask Grian what was wrong, however, Xisuma spoke up instead.

" _Leave_ , if you want," He hisses, standing up. "Just remember: the _Beast_ haunts these woods, singing his mournful melody in search of lost souls, such as yourselves!" He huffs urgently.

"Why, to help us home?" Grian asks sarcastically, mouth snapping shut as Xisuma responded anyway.

" _No_ , not to help you!" He groans, smacking the visor of his helmet. "Whatever. I have work to do in the mill- when I'm done, I'll do what I can to guide you, if you're still _here_."

Xisuma leaves the room silently, taking his lantern with him, as he always seemed to do.

As soon as he left the room, Mumbo turned to Grian once more, frowning. He lifted one hand forward, before deciding against it, lowering his gaze to the ground.

"Grian...? Are you- alright?" Mumbo asked, sighing.

"M'fine," Grian muttered, pressing his feet against the floor, hugging his knees. "You just... You've been making it out to be all my fault, that we're lost here. I was the one following you, y'know. It just seems kinda..."

"...Unfair. Right," Mumbo responds quietly, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sorry, Gri- I'm just, stressed, I guess. You're right, though, I shouldn't be blaming you for no reason."

Grian hummed loudly, flopping his back against the floor as a small smile rose to his face. Mumbo followed suit, though more carefully.

"Well, at least you realized you were in the wrong," He mused, shutting his eyes contently. "So, I forgive you. I don't think it's best to argue when we're lost in the woods, either."

"Thanks," Mumbo sighs, relieved. "And- yeah, I agree, with the uh- with the not arguing part."

The room was silent for a good minute, aside from the crackling of the flames inside the fireplace.

Then, suddenly, Grian shot upright with a gasp, looking around the room frantically.

"Grian?" Mumbo asked, sitting up as well. "What's wrong?"

"Argh! I can't find Kitty anywhere!" He cried, pouting.

"...'Kitty'?" Mumbo inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"My parrot!" Grian huffed, standing up. "She might be outside. I'll be right back, Mumby Bumby, I gotta find my bird!"

Mumbo smiled tiredly as Grian stepped outside the house, slowly laying back down against the ground.

Surely, Grian would be fine. He may be a bit spontaneous, but if he promised to be right back, you could expect him to do exactly that- maybe coming back with some random find or another.

Although wooden, the floor sure was comfortable.

\---

Grian hummed a tune to himself, skipping around the front of the house, looking around for his parrot (who he'd named Kitty for the time being- he didn't know if he quite liked it, though.)

Skipping forward, Grian slips on something and trips, and as he sat up at looked at the sole of his shoe, he finds a mushed piece of golden carrot.

"Tripped by my own carrot trail..." Grian sighs, before standing up, and dusted himself off swiftly. "Kiiiitty? Where are you, you silly little parrot, you..."

As he looked around the side of the house, a low growl interrupted his calls, and he turned around slowly.

Even so, nothing appeared to be there, a small breeze passing through the clearing.

He took one step towards the forest, eyebrows furrowed as his curiosity got the better of him. Then, he hears a faint caw, and swerves his head around, looking for where it came from, and stepped away from the woods.

"Kitty?" He calls once more, walking over to a window on the side of the mill. "This parrot's leading a wild goose chase, I swear..."

He hops atop a barrel and peers inside, wincing as the wood dug into his knees.

Inside was Xisuma, who appeared to be crushing down the twigs he had been carrying on his back. A few feet away, oil dripped out of a tube and into a glass bottle slowly, and Grian curled his mouth back in disgust- oil was gross, and probably sticky, and it smelled awful, too.

"Gross," He muttered, sticking his tongue out.

Again, he heard a faint caw, and turned around, looking for where it could be coming from, hands on his hips.

And again, he heard quiet, animalistic growling from somewhere in the woods.

"Huh... Is that-" Grian began, leaning towards the growling, before he falls inside the barrel, the lid flipping over. "Argh! Oh- Kitty! There you are!"

Sitting in the barrel, and now on his stomach, was his wonderful pet parrot, and Grian reached forward, petting her on the head.

Then, the growling comes back, louder this time, and Grian, cramped inside the barrel, holds Kitty closer to him.

"Mumbo? Xisuma...?" He whispers, eyes wide with fear.

His breath catches in his throat as a black furred beast nudges its head into the barrel, its bright, glowing eyes staring back at him.

He let out a scream, raised a foot, and kicked the thing right in the nose, tipping the barrel over.

He barely managed to get out of the barrel and away before the creature recovered, turning over at him and snarling.

\---


	3. Chapter 1, Part 3

\---

Mumbo was still laying across the floor, probably a few minutes away from dozing off, when he heard a muffled scream outside, along with sounds of crunching wood and creaking.

He sat upright, rubbing his eyes, heart catching in his throat.

"Grian?" He whispers, staggering up to his feet.

Not even a second later, Xisuma runs inside frantically, eyes wide.

"What's happening? Where's your friend?" He asks urgently, eyebrows furrowed angrily.

"I-I don't know! He went outside to find his parrot, and-" He begins nervously, shrinking in towards himself.

Grian then slams through the door, heaving and wheezing with exhaustion.

Mumbo and Xisuma swerve towards him, eyes wide.

"G-Guys, we have a bit of a situatio-!"

He never gets to finish his warning before the creature, slobbery and snarling, breaks through the door, knocking Grian into the flight of stairs. Mumbo lets out a yelp, and stumbles backwards, eyes flickering between the creature, which he assumed to be the Beast, and Grian, who was groaning in pain atop the staircase.

"That- That's the Beast!" Mumbo yells shakily.

Xisuma grabbed his axe and rushed forward, swinging his axe, although the creature catched it with its jaw, growling ferally.

"This _creature_ , scary as it may be, is not the-!" Xisuma's breath suddenly hitched in his throat, and he toppled over, landing on his face, cracking his visor. The lantern rolled out next to him.

"F- _Fuck_ , I was trying to hit the-" Grian huffed, a piece of wood clenched between his hands, eyes wide.

The creature snarled at him, before swerving its head to look at Mumbo, who was banging against the fireplace gate loudly. It leapt forward, and Mumbo shrieked, grabbing the gate and holding it up to use as a shield.

"It- It's fine, we can figure this out!" Mumbo yells frantically, although talking mostly to himself. "Grian- HELP!"

The creature whimpered suddenly, and swerved around, growling and baring its teeth, a gash in its side that bled black ooze. Grian, axe in hand, gasped, dropping the axe immediately.

Mumbo pushed the gate onto the creature, then grabbed Grian's hand, running into the mill.

"RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!" He yelped, slamming the door shut behind him, and _climbs_.

"It got through the door!" Grian shouted, and Mumbo frantically grabs the nearest thing- a sack of potatoes.

He throws one at first, then the whole sack, which toppled over pathetically.

Sighing in frustration, he tugged his hair as Grian panicked.

"Wh- Am _I_ supposed to be throwing something?!" He yells, scrambling away from the edge where the creature is slowly crawling up. "Oh-! My- My golden carrots!"

Scrambling through his satchel, Grian pulls out his bundle of golden carrots, and throws them at the creature, who stopped in its tracks and leaned down to eat them. The two of them scramble to the next platform they can reach, heaving with the effort it took, finding that they were now atop the roof.

"You're- you're _carrots_ , its eating them-" Mumbo begins, exasperated, before halting. "You're... Y-Y-You're carrot trail led the Beast right to us!" He yelled angrily, glaring at Grian.

"How was I supposed to know?!" Grian yelled back, his voice hoarse.

The creature then leapt up at them, teeth bared, eyes still glowing endlessly.

"AH! Grian- give it more carrots, give it more carrots!" Mumbo yelled, shaking Grian as he rummaged through his satchel.

"I don't have any more!" He cried, teeth clenched as he groaned in frustration, before spotting a piece entangled in the fibers of Mumbo's cape. "Oh!"

Grian grabs it, and throws it off the roof, the creature leaping after it with a hungry snarl.

The creature then yelps, and both Mumbo and Grian peer over the edge of the roof, gasping when they find it stuck underneath the waterwheel. And the waterwheel turns, and turns, and _turns_ , until the creature coughs up a tiny, black turtle, of all things, and falls under the river.

Grian covers his mouth with his hands, staring in horror, as Mumbo's mouth lay agape. Sure, it was a feral animal, the Beast, but that just looked outright _painful_.

And then, poking out of the water with a bark, was a dog, completely unscathed. It swam towards shore, and shook its fur out, sniffing at the black turtle before hacking and kicking it away with its paw.

They let out a sigh of relief, before gasping, the roof creaking underneath them.

"Jump!" Mumbo shrieks, grabbing a hold of Grian and leaping into the river just as the roof collapsed beneath them.

The water was icy cold, and as they resurfaced and climbed onto shore, they found a familiar, yet angry face waiting for them, lantern in his hand. Mumbo shivered, not just because of the cold water that now dripped off of him, but due to the sheer _anger_ that was poured into Xisuma's glare.

Part of his visor was cracked and missing a few shards of glass, thus revealing his vibrant green eyes and pale skin, only making the glare much, _much_ worse.

"The mill is destroyed now!" He seethed, fists clenched at his sides. "All the oil! It's _gone_!"

"But, b- but look! We- We got the Beast problem solved!" Mumbo cried, offering a nervous smile, pointing towards the dog who was now asleep on the grass.

"That _dog_?!" Xisuma yelled, furious. " _That_ is _NOT_ the Beast! _The Beast_ can't be _mollified_ like some farmer's pet!"

Xisuma's eyes widen, his glare still apparent, and he stalks forward one step, arms raised above him.

"He stalks like the night! He sings like the Four Winds!" He cried, a powerful gust of wind passing through the clearing. " _He_ is the _Death of Hope_! He will _ruin_ -"

Mumbo ducks his head down, and glares towards Grian.

"If you hadn't left that dumb carrot trail..." He hissed, Grian glaring right back at him.

"Oh, shut _up_!" Xisuma screams, grabbing Mumbo by the collar and dragging him up. "You have it backwards! _His_ mistakes are _yours_! You are _both_ responsible!" He hisses.

"I-I, I'm sorry! M-Maybe I- I can fix it?" He offers, eyes wide, before biting his lip and wincing. "No, I- I can't fix it."

Xisuma lets him go with an exhausted sigh, shoulders drooping as he finally dropped his glare. Head hanging low, he exhales slowly, and points north.

"You need to go," He states firmly. "Go north- look for a town."

Mumbo nods, and quickly stands, Grian placing his hand on Mumbo's shoulder.

He starts forward in the direction they were given, and makes it a good ten steps forward before Xisuma interrupts them.

"One more thing!" He calls, not facing towards them despite them doing as such. " _Beware_ the Unknown! _Fear the Beast_! And _leave_ these woods!"

Mumbo and Grian nod wordlessly, and turn around once more, treading towards the forest, the familiar sound of crunching leaves soon filling their ears. They don't talk for a good while, the occasional parrot caw filling up the silence.

"...Hey, Mumbo?" Grian murmurs, eyes drooping.

"Hm?" Mumbo hums in response, looking over at his friend.

"I think I thought of a new name for our parrot," He smiled. "I'm gonna call him Mumbo."

Mumbo let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head.

"Are you sure? That, uh, might get a bit confusing," He mused.

"Nope!" Grian grins, petting his parrot, now called 'Mumbo'. "I'm just gonna start calling _you_ Kitty."

"Pfft- what?!" Mumbo laughs, pushing Grian lightly and playfully. "I'm gonna start calling you Carrot-Pants, then."

Grian cackles, skipping forward and kicking up a few leaves, poking out his tongue at Mumbo.

Mumbo (the parrot) squawks, and Grian hums, nodding thoughtfully.

"You're absolutely right, Mumbo," He says with a business-like tone.

"Uh... Thanks?" Mumbo responds.

"I'm not talking to you!" Grian giggles, petting his parrot once more, who caws happily. "I'm talkin' to Mumbo!"

\---


End file.
